Following the report made by Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network that Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is expected to ask the team to explore trading him after the 2013 season, Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports reported on Twitter that he was told adamantly that the Steelers never “fielded offers” or ever entertained trading their franchise quarterback this past offseason like Rapoport suggested.

I'm told adamantly that the Steelers never "fielded offers" or ever entertained trading Big Ben this offseason. Never even close …

La Canfora smartly points to what I did in my last post and that is the fact that trading Roethlisberger prior to June 1st would result in a dead money charge of $13.59 million and thus would only save $5.305 million in cap space in 2014.

As I mentioned, I am not buying any of this right now. Franchise quarterbacks do not come along every year and Roethlisberger still has a few good seasons left in him. Even if he should want out, why I don’t believe is the case, I don’t think the Steelers will trade him.

Makes zero sense to trade him with the cap hit, especially when he’s shown a willingness to work with the team to lower his cap hit.

Really they should build a six year extension that lowers his cap hit for the next two years by having a low base salary over the next two years with a massive $54 million bonus and $46 million base salary.

Have a $1 million base salary over each of the next two years with the $9 million bonus pro rated over the six years which would escalate to $11 million base salary per year in year three.

It would cover the most likely duration of Big Ben’s remaining career as well as deal with a huge part of the cap issues currently facing the team.

Shea Fahr

Ian is full of BS….time to beat the Bills.

Ike Evans

God..…i hope not

Joey

Where does Mr. Rappaport get off telling these lies? He has done things like this in the past, and it seems like all he is doing is trying to make a name for himself. What a joke, his reporting is a horrible piece of work, and the NFL Network should fire him.

dgh57

YOU GOT THAT RIGHT!!

Shea Fahr

Here we Go!

pittsburghjoe

The only way this can happen is if the following occurs: A team provides the Steelers with a strong offer, such as multiple high round picks. 2) The Steelers renegotiate a long term extension in which Ben and the other teams agrees. 3) The Steelers and the other team agrees to the trade. Ben counts about 14 million against the cap next year, if the trade occurs, the only way to make it happen is if an extension occurs. 14 mill is way too much money for cap purposes. You don’t trade a franchise QB unless you can draft another one (i.e. Indy Colts).

pittsburghjoe

If this is not true, its a big hit on his professional credibility.

Whitesauce

Criticize Rappaport all you want, but someone probably fed him this story for their own purpose. It was likely Ben’s agent. The trade makes no sense for the Steelers, but I find it unlikely that Rappaport made this up. The question is: Does Ben want to be traded or does he want to let his dissatisfaction with the offense be known? Don’t be naive about stories like this. They serve a purpose.

http://www.nyob.com/ Dr. Doom

What possible leverage would this give them? 0, Ben has all the leverage in contract talks. He does not have to sign an extension, he could just stan pat.

Whitesauce

This is not about money at all. It’s not just the talk of trade, it’s the reason why. This is geared at getting rid of Haley. If you’ve noticed, Ben and Todd have been playing nice all season. Ben is not in a position to outwardly criticize, so he gets the word out in other ways. The Steelers wouldn’t trade Ben unless they were so frustrated, they were willing to eat the dead money in the salary cap. This is only about Haley.

http://www.nyob.com/ Dr. Doom

They can’t eat the dead money that is just it, would ruin them in 2014. And it is not all Haley’s fault the offense has been up and down:

1) No play to play consistent LT play. One play good next one terrible.
2) Lack of consistent running lanes, no back can do much when the defender is there two seconds after hand off.
3) I would say 3 of Ben’s interceptions are on the receivers.
4) Ben has to protect the football better, that is on Ben.
5) And also there has been inconsistent and at times bad play calling mostly earlier in the season.